Chorale Festival to be held at OC

Thursday, Jan 13, 2011

A free massed choir concert of almost 400 singers from six colleges and universities will be the concluding event of the 38th Christian College Choral Festival this weekend. The concert, which is open to the public, will be Saturday, Jan. 15 at 7:30 p.m. at Oklahoma Christian University’s Hardeman Auditorium.

The six university choirs which will perform are Crowley’s Ridge College (Crowley’s Ridge, Ark.), Freed-Hardeman University (Henderson, Tenn.), Harding University (Searcy, Ark.), Lipscomb University (Nashville, Tenn.), Oklahoma Christian University (Oklahoma City), and Rochester College (Rochester Hills, Mich.). The concert will begin with each participating chorus performing two selections individually, followed by the presentation by the massed choir.

The Christian College Choral Festival began in 1966 and enjoys a rich and treasured tradition of primarily a cappella choral performance.

Rehearsing and directing the mass choir will be Dr. Z. Randall Stroope, director of vocal and choral studies at Oklahoma State University. Z. Randall Stroope is one of the most active choral conductors and composers in the nation, with recent conducting engagements at the American School in Singapore, Canterbury Cathedral (England), Salzburger Dom (Austria), Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (Washington, D.C.), Vancouver Symphony (British Columbia), and three performances at the Vatican in the past two years.